Spyral said:
"In Washington You don't need glitz and glam like in the North East"
To say that people in Washington would not like something different and interactive is a bit ignorant, don't you think?
Thanks for your input.
There's a difference in what I said, and what you're thinking. I said you don't need the glitz and glam of the north east to be successful. I'm sure people would appreciate it. I have no doubt, people would enjoy the aquarium fish super store, with burrito bar, espresso lounge, animal hospital, and dolphin dive.
The research on how many of those burrito buyers will buy a frontosa, or how many espresso lounge people will buy their first 10 gallon tank has yet to be seen.
Cross marketing is a complex thing, I have no doubt you'd attract people who would not normally frequent your store. However, that doesn't mean they'll actually buy anything. Lots of people love to take their kids to the "free zoo" spend 45 minutes in the store, generally causing mayhem. Moving fish tags, sticking their hands in aquariums etc.
I guess I'd equate the one stop aquarium shop, to a tank with 10 canister filters. Sure it's better. But after 3, each one after is redundant.
I can't imagine the management nightmares of an aquarium shop mixed with anything. You have to hire fish people, and baristas. You have to explain why your baristas get tipped $2 on a 6 dollar coffee, and your fish guy gets only his wage, on a $200 fish sale. You yourself, have to manage the spoilable goods on the espresso side, and the stock lists of fish. While dealing with an espresso that was made incorrectly, and customer #2's dead platy, that doesnt understand what an ammonia spike is.
Every store has their lure:
The fish store- coupons, every month, bribe them in.
A place for pets - discounts on tuesdays, cichlids, kevin's knowledge.
Conway - cichlid specialty, knowledge, personal service.
Petsmart- location, you cant drive 20 minutes without passing one.
Pet pourii - rare fish.
Chinatown stores - crazy cheap prices.
Aquarist world - Big show tanks, caters to larger fish
Bridges - Nice presentation, reptile kids room.
Clarks feed and seed - planted tanks/plant selection.
Rift Lake Cichlids- Espresso bar, Show tanks, Cichlid specialty.
I would visit your store for the cichlids, and the show tanks once. Show tanks I only need to see once, it's a decent bonus to check in on them again, when i go back.. But like the wetspot's fire eel tank. I dont have the feeling that I'm missing out by not going to see it this weekend. Also, I'm likely to go out to lunch before going fish shopping with buddies. There is a slight chance I would purchase a drink on the way out of your store.
Now, if your cichlids, wernt up to par, it would negate the other two aspects. In all reality, I end up going to 3-5 stores, when I go fish shopping. What guides my travel, is how likely I am to find a fish I'd like to purchase. If I strike out 10 times in a row, you fall pretty far down on the list, maybe check back in 3 months.
If I was you, i'd try to find some feasibility studies on aquariums in las vegas. Lots of places have them. When I was there a month ago, no one was huddled around even looking at them, and these were 10000 gallon tanks in bars, restaurants etc.
I think Jacko explained a fish store perfectly. There are lots of "that would be neat" ideas, that come up in the shop every single day. At the end of the day, you needed 2 more hours to get the manditory stuff done, and the fun neat idea stuff, time is never available for. As you've run businesses before, you know employee wage cost, will make or break your business. If there is time for people to sit around and setup stuff for fun, the bills will eventually go unpaid.
A good general rule for you, it costs a store 25 cents a gallon, each month to maintain itself. So one 10 gallon tanks costs you $2.50 a month , to rent the space, heat it, clean it, and have an employee there to sell out of it. This number doesn't really change whether you have 10 aquariums or 5000. Because the maintenance and employee ratio to take care of tanks remains the same.
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